Development and optimization of resin based radionuclidic generators

氚-99m是医疗保健中使用最广泛的医用同位素，每天在全球范围内进行76,000次扫描。这些剂量中的大多数来自数量有限的老化反应堆，这些反应堆是由高浓缩铀(HEU)辐射造成的。这种辐射产生的产物是放射性核素钼-99(Mo-99)，它被整合到一种名为发电机的设备中，并提供给医疗中心，一次使用长达一周。钼-99的衰变提供了按需获得用于诊断癌症、心血管疾病和其他几种指征的扫描所需的99m。对有限来源的依赖，以及与使用高浓缩铀相关的安全风险，对发电机用钼-99的供应构成了潜在的挑战。可以在不使用高浓缩铀的情况下生产钼-99，但与样品中的其他钼同位素相比，钼-99的浓度非常低。为了让同样数量的钼-99进入发电机，所需的钼量将超过电流发生器的容量。该项目描述了发现和合成新的高容量聚合物材料的工作，这些材料用于传统的Mo-99/Tc-99m发电机，以允许使用较低浓度的Mo-99。合成化学方法将应用于聚合物的改性和新聚合物的创造，以提高材料选择性捕获感兴趣的离子的能力。根据该计划培训的五名学生将获得有机合成、聚合物化学和处理放射性材料所需的技能方面的知识。这项研究赞扬了加拿大政府通过NISP和ITAP计划确定非反应堆来源的Tc-99m的投资。该项目的研究以及Acsion Industries开展的工作将使医院能够以他们已经熟悉的格式使用Mo-99/Tc-99m发电机，同时避免与使用高浓缩铀相关的安全风险。

Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) is the most widely used medical isotope in health care and accounts for >76,000 scans per day worldwide. Most of these doses come from a limited number of aging reactors from the irradiation of highly enriched uranium (HEU). The product from this irradiation is the radionuclide molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) that is incorporated into a device called a generator and supplied to medical centres for use for up to a week at a time. The decay of Mo-99 provides on demand access to Tc-99m to use in scans for the diagnosis of cancer, cardiovascular disease and several other indications.The dependence on a limited number of sources, as well as the security risks associated with the use of HEU, pose potential challenges to the supply of Mo-99 for generators. Molybdenum-99 can be produced without the use of HEU, however the concentration of the Mo-99 isotope is very low compared to other isotopes of molybdenum in the sample. In order to get the same amount of Mo-99 into the generator, the amount of molybdenum required would exceed the capacity of current generators. This project describes work to discover and synthesize new, high capacity polymer materials for use in traditional Mo-99/Tc-99m generators to allow the use of the lower concentration Mo-99. Synthetic chemistry methods will be applied to the modification of polymers and to the creation of new polymers to improve the capacity of the material to selectively capture the ions of interest. The five students trained under this program will gain knowledge of organic synthesis, polymer chemistry and the skills needed to work with radioactive materials. This research compliments the investment made by the government of Canada to identify non-reactor based sources of Tc-99m through the NISP and ITAP programs. The research from this project, along with work carried out by Acsion Industries and will allow hospitals to use Mo-99/Tc-99m generators in a format they already familiar with, while avoiding the security risks associated with the use of HEU.